The Long War of Our “Semi-Fascist” Neo-Confederacy
Our civic leaders at every level of government are bound by oath or affirmation to support our Constitution. Further, “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.” These are the basic principles of good citizenship in these United States of America, as reflected by our national motto: E Pluribus Unum. Can we ever wrap our collective consciousness around what this means?
It is easy enough to understand how a flag and other symbols of this country can provoke and animate feelings toward all the stuff for which they are supposed to stand. But will we ever appreciate the slipperiness that subjective, commercial, quasi-patriotic symbolism puts on the slope of subversion against the republic and our fellow Americans — as well as potential and prospective fellow Americans?
Let us acknowledge the power of the bad actors that necessarily follow from our basic rights of free speech and assembly, while emphasizing our own power as an electoral franchise.
“Republicans stand for raw, unbridled evil and greed and ignorance, smothered in balloons and ribbons,” the late 20th Century Rockstar and composer Frank Zappa once noted. And it often enough appears that We The People prefer to be worshipers of star-spangled schlock than stakeholders in a…